There are many reasons it may be necessary to modify parts of your agreement, such as decision-making regarding your children, parenting time, or child support. Such modifications may be made either by court order, or by stipulation as a result of either negotiation or mediation.
If the parties do not agree to modify parental responsibility (once called "custody" in Colorado law) or parenting time, then the process for obtaining a court order may be very difficult, time-consuming and expensive, depending on how hard the parties want to fight. Even if lawyers are involved, mediation may be useful in obtaining an out-of-court settlement that is both better designed for the particular parties, and may be less expensive than litigating the issue.
Modifying child support should be less difficult, since almost all child support orders are based on a formula. There may be disputes, however, about the parties' incomes, what day care the parties should use, and what expenses should be included in the calculation.
For decision-making, parenting time, and child support disputes, mediation will almost always provide a quicker and less expensive resolution than litigation.